The story of the Maple Leaf Flag is the history of Canada as seen through the evolution
of our national symbol. Looking back from the first
decade of the 21st century, the design we chose seems obvious, inevitable. But in
1964, at the height of Great Flag Debate, the home-grown leaf eked out a narrow
victory over the symbols of Canada’s colonial past. Yet in the more than 45 years
since its birth on February 15, 1965, the red-and-white Maple Leaf has become indisputably
one of the world’s great flags.

Rick Archbold’s writing has ranged from a cookbook based on the lavish last dinner served aboard the R.M.S. Titanic through an illustrated history of the age of airships to an investigation of the use of ancient Egyptian mummies by modern medical science. But his first loves are Canadian history and politics.